1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions, devices, kits and methods for the detection of hookworm in mammals. More particularly, the present invention relates to polypeptides and polypeptide compositions, antibodies and antibody compositions, devices, kits, and methods for detecting the presence or absence of hookworm antigen in a sample from a mammal that may also include one or more of roundworm, whipworm, and heartworm antigen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hookworms are bloodsucking intestinal parasites that can cause their host to suffer serious illness, such as anemia, wasting and retarded development. For example, the hookworm Ancylostoma caninum causes significant disease in both dogs and humans (Prociv et al., Acta Trop. 1996 September; 62(1):23-44).
Current methods for diagnosis of hookworm infections primarily involve microscopic examination of fecal samples, either directly in fecal smears or following concentration of ova by flotation in density media. Despite this procedure's high adoption, the method has significant shortcomings. These microscopic methods are time consuming, are unpleasant, require specialized equipment and can have low specificity [Dryden et al., 2005, Vet Therap. 6(1), 15-28]. In addition, the accuracy of results of these methods is highly dependent upon the skill and expertise of the operator. (For example, a novice eye often will mistake ova of other parasitic nematodes for those of hookworm and vice versa.) This potential for misdiagnosis is unfortunate because a misdiagnosed animal may be given a treatment that is ineffective against hookworm, and therefore one that would not alleviate the animal's suffering or stop the progressive wasting of its health.
Stool handling is disagreeable and hazardous. Sanitary and inoffensive procedures for processing stool are awkward and often complex. Such procedures may include weighing, centrifuging and storing, and are difficult except in a clinical laboratory equipped with a suitable apparatus, protective equipment, and a skilled technician. Therefore, any reduction in the number of steps required to perform a fecal test and any reduction in contact between test operator and the test material is desirable. Clinical laboratories have been using the immunoassay methods for the detection of various viruses, bacteria and non-helminth parasites and organisms in feces. However, there remains a need for a simple immunoassay method for the detection of a parasitic worm infection, and hookworm infection in particular in feces, whole blood or in serum.
Another significant limitation of diagnosis by microscopic detection of ova is that because hookworm eggs generally are not detectable in host feces until well after infection manifests, it does not allow for early detection of hookworm infection. For example, hookworm ova generally do not appear in canine feces until about 17 days after oral ingestion of the parasite by the canine. This is a problem because symptoms such as severe weight loss and bloody diarrhea often distress the host before hookworm ova first appear in the feces. Early detection therefore is highly desirable.